Sonic Saturn
From Sonic Retro
Revision as of 19:57, 18 September 2023 by CartridgeCulture (talk | contribs) (→Production credits)
|
| Sonic Saturn |
|---|
| System(s): Sega Saturn[1] |
| Developer: STI[1] |
| Genre: Platform |
Sonic Saturn (TBD) is an unreleased Sega Saturn platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute's satellite studio in Burbank, California.[1] Commissioned by Sega of America management around early 1996[2] to be produced alongside Sonic X-treme as one of two potential mainline Sonic the Hedgehog titles for the system, it was planned to present Sonic as a dedicated three-dimensional model instead of a sprite, and would feature a more realistic interpretation of the character's world than seen before.[2] While concept artwork, gameplay designs, background software, and even a playable bonus game were created for the project, Sonic Saturn was never publicly announced, and was ultimately cancelled altogether.[2]
Production credits
- Designer: Peter Morawiec
- Programmer: Adrian Stephens
History
| “ | "Sonic Saturn (or Sonic 3D) was a different project [from Sonic X-treme], which Adrian and I started at STI Burbank in early 1996. It was supposed to be a 3D Sonic game for the Saturn – those concept images I sent you previously are from that game. Adrian had a very nifty and fast spherical renderer going on for it, for things like bodies and heads. This game was going for a more realistic rendition of Sonic’s world, but Naka didn’t like it so the project was axed. (Ironically, the subsequent Sonic game for the Dreamcast was much more realistic). Following that, there was a slight chance of salvaging our tech and assets to create a bonus game for the Travelers Tales developed Sonic 3D Blast, although we will never know just how seriously this was ever considered. Nonetheless, we quickly whipped out a prototype, which we called Sonic Pool, but it never went past that." | „ |
| — Developer Peter Morawiec[2] | ||
Sonic Pool
The game's bonus rounds were going to consist of a billiards minigame. Titled Sonic Pool, the bonus round was considered for inclusion in the Saturn version of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island after Sonic Saturn was cancelled.[2] However, due to time constraints, this too was abandoned in favor of a 3D version of Sonic 2's special stage.
Sonic would position himself behind a ball and perform a Spin Dash to strike it forward, with the camera then switching to an overhead view to show the ball's movement. The balls can also be pushed around the arena, but this is much slower. Later stages would have featured enemies wandering about the playfield, which could harm Sonic. The goal was to sink all seven balls into dedicated portals within a certain time limit. Curiously, a screenshot of the Snow arena features only five balls.
A number of differently-themed arenas were included in Sonic Pool, including Egypt, Galaxy, Roman, Future, and Snow. An additional arena, set in an American Southwest-themed courtyard, was also planned.
Pool Intro.
Egypt Arena.
Galaxy Arena. A Death Egg can be seen in the background.
Roman Arena.
Egypt Arena.
Future Arena.
Snow Arena. The amount of balls is only 5.
Concept art
Wetlands stage render
Wetlands stage background
Cybernik badnik concept art
Cybernik badnik concept art
External links
References
| Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems | |
|---|---|
 |
1996 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island 1997 Sonic Jam | Sonic R Demos Sonic R: Trial Version
|
| Unreleased Sonic the Hedgehog games |
|---|
          |
| Sonic X-treme incarnations |
|